WR Kenny Stills shredded man coverage in Texans’ 24-21 win over Titans

The Houston Texans QB-WR duo of Deshaun Watson and Kenny Stills shredded the Tennessee Titans’ man coverage on Sunday.

DeAndre Hopkins played on Sunday, so did Will Fuller.

It was neither member of the “dreaded duo” to put up points in the Houston Texans’ 24-21 win over the Tennessee Titans.

It was Kenny Stills that lead the Texans’ vaunted wide receiver corps. He put up two second-quarter touchdowns to get Houston up 14-0 entering halftime in the eventual victory.

The newest member of Houston’s receiving corps got the Texans going with 10:04 left in the second quarter. Deshaun Watson pinpointed the ball in front of his chest; Stills did the rest of the work, hauling in a 12-yard score.

Both of the touchdowns were in man coverage. On the first, Stills beat cornerback Logan Ryan on a cross-field corner route.

“The first one was just man coverage and it was a foot race to the back of the endzone,” Stills told reporters after the 24-21 win. “And Deshaun threw a perfect ball.”

On the second, DeAndre Hopkins from the middle-slot pulled the lurking free safety across the field to get Stills naked against man coverage. From the inside slot, No. 12 ran a corner route. This time, he cleanly beat cornerback Tye Smith.

Again, Watson found him in the end zone and threw a perfect pass. It was also the quarterback to draw-up the play. He recognized man coverage, checked to a go-to play that has schemed to beat it — also known as a man-beater — and reaffirmed the good call with a better pass.

“The second one, he checked to a man-beater,” said Stills. “They were playing man and I beat my man. He threw another perfect ball.”

It wasn’t Stills who would lead the Texans in receiving yards — that went to Hopkins (119 yards). Nor did he lead the receptions — also went to Hopkins (six). However, without his touchdowns and the man coverage played on it, next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have been far more important.